Mesa Arizona 2023

Chapter 1:

Seventeen-year-old Alexis Caddy awakes to the soft morning light outside her window and the loud purring of her orange tabby cat, Tibia, next to her on the bed. She lies on her back, staring at the blank white ceiling overhead. She sighs then rolls over to her side all the while moving her blanket off of her legs. She sits up and stretches before shooing the cat off the bed. “You know you’re not supposed to be on the bed Tibia.” He jumps down off of the light purple blanket that he is so dearly attached too, hissing at her.

Alexis stands up and walks over to the dresser and pulls out what she’s going to wear today: Jeans and a grey t-shirt, a perfect outfit to go with her dull brown hair and bright brown eyes. Her hair lays stick straight with blunt bangs across her forehead.

She is surprised to see that she is awake this early and thinks of the reasons why she would be. Then it dawned on her, she had heard a loud booming sound and felt the bed quake, and that is why she had awoken. What was that sound? She quickly pulls on her clothes and moves to the door. As she goes to turn the knob she stops suddenly. What is that noise, she thinks. She hears a muffled voice outside her door. Sounds like someone is standing there whispering to her. She waits a few seconds more, but at the time, the noise stops. She turns the knob and steps out into the blank white hallway, no pictures in sight. She looks around a few times but no one is around

. She walks out of the hallway and into the pastel blue living room, making her way past the brown leather couch and wooden coffee table. No one can be seen or heard in the house. Everyone must still be asleep, she thinks. She has no idea what time it is. She opens the door to the kitchen and stops; her mother is there by the refrigerator, talking in a hushed voice on the phone. “Leave us ALONE, I don’t want this for her. Stop calling here. This is the last time I’m going to tell you,” her mom says. She violently hangs up the phone. “Hey Mom” Alexis says cheerfully. Her mother whips around with a smile plastered on her face. “Alexis, hey. You’re up early. Do you want some breakfast?” her mother asks. “Who was that on the phone mom?” “Oh nobody, just a wrong number, they keep calling here and I keep telling them to stop” her mother says in a fake cheerful voice. Strange, why is she not telling me the truth, Alexis ponders?

Her younger brother and sister must still be asleep but she asks anyways. “Where are Jake and Alice?” Alexis asks her mom. “Why, they must still be asleep, I haven’t even thought about waking them up yet” her mother responds. Her mother moves around to make breakfast and Alexis sits at the old light wooden table, passed down from her great grandmother to her mom.  She remembers something suddenly. “Hey mom, what was that loud booming noise I heard?” Her mother nervously looks around before answering; “Why I don’t know honey, I didn’t hear any noise.” Why is my mom acting so strange, this is very unusual behavior of her, Alexis wonders.

“Alexis, I need you to stay inside the house today, and keep Jake and Alice inside with you” her mom says in a sharp, commanding voice. “Why mom?” “Just because, do what I say and don’t ask questions” her mother commands. “I will be working in my office so take care to not let the kids bother me today okay? Her mom asks. “Okay” answers Alexis, wondering what her mother is really up to. After breakfast Alexis goes to wake up her younger siblings while her mother locks herself in her office.

Alexis’s mother, Susan, who is a short stature woman with jet-black hair and glasses, works at home for an insurance company. Her mother calls it lucky that she gets to work from her home and always is around, but Alexis knows that she requested this specifically because of her fear of the outside. This fear manifested when Jack, Alexis’s dad died from a plane crash he piloted one unlucky morning 3 years ago. Walking into the younger one’s room Alexis cheerfully exclaims “Wakkkkkke Uppppppp Jake and Alice, its morning time.”

Jake, 9 and Alice, 7 both look exactly alike, with tiny features and dark brown ringlet hair. They reluctantly get up after much poking and prodding from their big sister. Getting them dressed and ready for the day turns into a big feat with much scolding and exasperated sighs coming from Alexis and complaining coming from the kids. They finally leave the bedroom and make their way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Alexis cooks them up two eggs each and pours them both a glass of milk. Sitting down with them, she watches them fondly while they eat their breakfast. After breakfast, she shoos them into the living room to play some board games. The day passes by with Susan locked in her office, and Alexis, Jake, and Alice playing in the living room. Alexis begins dinner when she realizes her mother probably won’t be coming out until well into the next morning. As the three kids sit down to eat, another loud booming noise is heard from outside. Only Alexis seems to hear it, as neither Jake nor Alice show any signs of concern for the noise. Alexis reluctantly goes back to eating her dinner as she decides she will investigate the noises later, when the kids and her mom aren’t around. After dinner she gets her siblings to take showers and brush their teeth before putting them to bed. They are both exhausted from playing with Alexis all day. They happily lay down and both quickly fall asleep. Alexis goes to her room and gets her nightclothes out for after her shower

. She realizes how she too is tired from playing all day. It will be nice to get some sleep. She is shocked still about how quickly the day went by and thinks how nice it was playing with her siblings. Even though all three are homeschooled, Alexis realizes how little time she spends with Jake and Alice. What, with her always leaving the house on her secret ‘wild adventure’ walks she rarely has time for them. She goes into her bathroom and starts the shower, removing her clothes at the same time. She steps in and shrieks as the water has not yet heated up and is icy cold. After a few seconds, the water slowly heats up and she finds herself being almost lulled to sleep by the warmth and pressure of the water. She wakes herself up and starts to clean herself. When she is done, she turns off the water and steps out, reaching for her towel.

Another loud booming noise is heard and in shock she drops her towel. When the noises recedes she reaches down to pick up her towel. If only mom would let me out of the house, I could see what that noise is, Alexis thinks. Why won’t her mom let her out of the house, she wonders. Could it be that she knows what is happening outside with that noise and she is trying to keep it from her? And what about that mysterious phone call earlier this morning?

All these questions make Alexis think that her mom knows something that she doesn’t want Alexis to find out and oh how badly this makes Alexis want to know more.  She must find out and soon. Done with her shower, Alexis gets dressed and then brushes her teeth for bed.

Finally, after an exhausting day, she goes to her room, turns out the lights, and gets in bed, forgetting all about the loud booming noises.